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<title>you ain’t a kid no more (we’ll never be those kids again) by rosyvanity</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641273">you ain’t a kid no more (we’ll never be those kids again)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosyvanity/pseuds/rosyvanity'>rosyvanity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Emmerdale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Teen Angst, Vanity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:40:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosyvanity/pseuds/rosyvanity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>yet another teen au. summary: charity and vanessa don't like each other</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you ain’t a kid no more (we’ll never be those kids again)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>working from home has allowed me time to re-watch vanity and reflect on how on earth they went from strength to strength to living separate lives. i just want them back together, or i at least want charity to have not cheated. so i thought i'd sort it out myself. kind of. because they're not actually together in this short fic either. but charity hasn't cheated, and i do hope i've captured some early vanity magic. </p><p>i also hope i've captured their characters in the way i wanted to. writing does not come very naturally to me, but i enjoy it nonetheless. this has been *literally* years in the making, starting as a draft from december 2018, rediscovered november 2020. so not only is constructive criticism welcome, but i might actually be asking for it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What on earth could you have done to land yourself in ‘ere wi’ me then, Ness?”</p><p>The smaller blonde dropped her pen as the taunting voice that disrupted most Year 10 lessons came from the back of the classroom.</p><p>She felt the words like heat on her skin. She was infuriated - she certainly was not in the mood, today. She wanted to fire back; to tell Charity flamin’ Dingle that it wasn’t any of her business to know why she was spending her Friday afternoon clock watching and writing lines instead of being out with Rhona and her mates. Not that she was in the mood to be putting up with their endless talking about boys they fancy. She never was to be honest. She was sick of Rhona drooling over Cain Dingle.</p><p> She’s pulled back to reality at the thought of Rhona and now Cain, and the stories she’d heard about him and Charity. She is almost sure they couldn’t be true, but then again, they are Dingles. Rough. And she didn’t like any of them. Actually, Chas was alright. She’d sometimes give Vanessa a fag while they waited for Rhona and Cain to finish snogging down the ginnel at the back of the estate. She supposes that’s why she gets so much grief off Charity these days - by association. Not that she understands why.  </p><p>It’s not as if Cain Dingle, or any bloke, is anything worth fighting over. And while she doesn’t even like Charity, she thinks that she’s way too pretty for Cain. </p><p>And she’s his cousin.</p><p>She sighs. She really isn’t in the mood, which is unlike her. At this introspective realisation, her desire to say something she knew wasn’t very nice just to shut the dirty blonde up disappears. This was partly because she knew it would probably just spur her on, but mostly because her Mum’s voice echoed in the back of her mind. She has to watch her temper. </p><p>It’s not ladylike, Vanessa. </p><p>So she isn’t going to rise to it. She turns her attention back to her book in front of her. She starts writing: ’I will not forget my English coursework’. </p><p>She almost makes it through three lines when her train of thought is interrupted by chair legs screeching as they’re pushed back on the linoleum floor.</p><p>Behind her, Charity starts to make her way to the front of the classroom. </p><p>She weaves her way between the desks in a path that seems aimless, but there’s no doubt she has a clear target in mind. She scuffs the front of her chunky boots against the floor (the kind of boots Vanessa’s mum won’t buy) and kicks random chairs out of the way as she inches closer - not quite hard enough to make Vanessa jump at the noise, but enough to let her know what she’s doing. </p><p>Vanessa almost let out a bitter laugh. Charity was so clueless, thinking that Vanessa was scared, or intimidated, or unsure about the taller blonde. Vanessa always knew what Charity Dingle was doing. Charity’s game was to manipulate;  to make sure you were too flustered or embarrassed to say anything back. She was a wind up merchant. A quick witted one, she’ll give her that. Her tongue is sharp and her comebacks are quicker  - and cleverer - than anyone’s Vanessa’s ever known. But that’s all it is - a well rehearsed act, a bark without a real bite.</p><p>The smaller blonde was sure - no, she was certain - that underneath it all, Charity was not just clever, but softer. She secretly thought of herself as lucky because she had started to see it herself over the past few months. And whenever she got to see this side of Charity, it made her feel a bit funny, for some reason. First, it was the day Charity finished reading the Secret Garden before anyone else in their English class did. Even beat Vanessa. It was a difficult book. She had tried to hide it, but then the next week when their English teacher read out one of Charity’s essays, Charity’s nonchalance and feigned embarrassment was transparent as she stayed behind at the end of the lesson to gush with pride to Vanessa - Vanessa, who had been taking her time packing her stuff away, doing anything and everything to prolong her time spent in school before heading back to Mum’s. On that afternoon, Charity’s passion shone right through, like a spring sunrise that warms a room as it seeps through cracks in the curtains in the early morning. On her walk home that night, Vanessa could not help but notice that the warm colours of the sunset made the world look the same way it did when she was under a euphoric Charity’s full attention.</p><p>Which is why Vanessa had her suspicions that today’s talk, like all of Charity’s teasing, was just talk. It was an act, and it was to get a reaction, because she was clever, but most of all, was adept at pushing people’s buttons because she choose to do it. And Vanessa was bored of it. She’d had enough of people making her feel small. And, she did not have the energy to entertain immaturity.</p><p>“You know,” Charity started, blowing a bubble with her gum (cherry, Vanessa knew) “you shouldn’t ignore people when they’re talking to you, Buttercup - ” Charity paused. </p><p>The brief hesitation told Vanessa that Charity expected a heated reply. But she decides she won’t give her one. She won’t lose her head. </p><p>Before she could retort with a calm and blunt remark that wouldn’t lend Charity the opportunity for derision, the taller blonde continued “I thought Mummy would have told you that, at least. Ain’t very polite, V” </p><p>And that was another thing. Charity always shortened her name. No one else did it. Not Rhona, certainly not her Mum. The only nickname she’d ever had was given to her by her Dad, and she wouldn’t be seeing him anytime soon. It annoyed her when Charity did it. She didn’t even know her.</p><p>Vanessa rolled her eyes, but kept her head down, looking at her desk. Charity stood in front of her.</p><p>“I don’t wanna get caught talking by Mrs White when she gets back. Aren’t we in enough trouble as it is?” Give her a little, Vanessa thought. Let her call me teacher’s pet - I’m not bothered.</p><p>She tried not to spit the last bit at Charity, though her patience was wearing thin. If she had gotten angry, she’d have looked stupid, because she couldn't even look Charity in the face, et it would give her just the reaction she craved.</p><p>If Vanessa was honest, while she maintains that she was never sacred of Charity, she is a bit nervous. Charity always made her nervous no matter how much she knew she’d never actually do anything. She knew she wouldn’t because she’d known her for years, and she’d never experienced anything worse than a few words when the green eyed blonde caught her on her own. Even so, she knew Charity just thought she was lame. Probably not worth her energy. And that was what embarrassed her most. Vanessa Woodfield was insignificant in the world of Charity Dingle. She wasn’t sure she’d ever walked away from her without her cheeks tinged a bright shade of pink. </p><p>Almost on cue, she felt her face flush. She gulped. She looked at the clock. Quarter to four.</p><p>Vanessa’s response evoked an eruption of sharp, intimidating laughter from Charity who was now hovering even closer to her in front of her desk.</p><p>“Oh babe, if you think an hour spent reciting ‘I will not forget my homework’ is trouble, you wanna get out in the real world”.</p><p>Vanessa saw red. She hated being patronised. She wasn’t stupid. She was far from it, and it was even more frustrating because Charity didn’t care enough to learn that about her.</p><p>She was bright and switched on and had her own stuff, too. She had a temper, and comebacks, and lots of nasty things she could fire at anyone anytime, if she really wanted to. She had resentment and anger she could and wanted to hurl back out into the world. But she didn’t do that. What made her better than Charity Dingle, is that she was more mature, that she knew more, that she knew it just wasn’t worth it - she obviously had the upper hand. Emboldened by her sense of superiority and associated ability to bite her tongue in the presence of someone whose own was so quick to be sharp, she raised her eyebrows at Charity and began to speak. </p><p>“I’ve heard about what goes on in your real world”, she hesitates, but just for a second - the look of shock on Charity’s face tells her that a retort was clearly unexpected. Vanessa smirks, and stands up. She leans over the desk, locking eyes with fiery green orbs, and speaks softly “… no thanks”.</p><p>She grabs her bag, and leaves Charity speechless in an empty classroom. She walks down the corridor with a spring in her step. She is smug, and cannot hide the satisfaction on her face. It feels good to make Charity Dingle feel as small as she has forced Vanessa Woodfield to be for the last four years.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>unsure if this will remain a one shot, or be a multi chapter fic :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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